


The Most Loved Baby in the World

by SingingInTheRaiin



Series: Worth the Wait [8]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Because of course he did, F/M, Gen, I'm not going to go through every single Doctor until the end, Jackie Tyler is always a force to be reckoned with, Time Travel, XD, i don't know whether it's better to imagine Rose or the Doctor giving the sex talk, it just felt fitting to have a regeneration somewhere in here, surprisingly little of it though, the Doctor and Rose are parents, the Doctor named his child Andromeda, when you're together for thousands of years sometimes you need a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-31 17:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21449710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Growing up on the TARDIS doesn't make for the most normal childhood, but Andy wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. She loves her parents, and they love her, and she gets to go on so many amazing adventures. It's not usual, but it's Andy's life, and she loves it.
Relationships: Fifteenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Fourteenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Rose Tyler
Series: Worth the Wait [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1488425
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	The Most Loved Baby in the World

“Mummy! Daddy!” The loud screeches echoed down the hallway, and the Doctor once again lamented the fact that out of all the traits in the world, their child had to take on one of Jackie Tyler’s most annoying. 

The Doctor knew that there wasn’t any serious problem- if there was the TARDIS would have alerted him to it. While it hadn’t escaped his notice that for some reason the TARDIS seemed none too fond of the child, she would never let the kid actually get hurt.

By the time the Doctor reached the little banshee, Rose was already there, crouched down in front of the very short human. “We’ve talked about this, love. When you need something, you need to use your inside voice. Remember that?”

The Doctor hurried over to make it clear that he was also an active parent. “What happened?”

He could feel through the bond the way that Rose was trying not to laugh out loud as she answered. “Andy spilled her tea and the TARDIS wouldn’t make her more.” She slapped lightly against the nearest wall. “Honestly, for shame,” she chided teasingly. Then she scooped up Andromeda and swung her around a couple of times to make the child laugh. “Let’s go on a little adventure to the kitchen, hm? We’ll see all kinds of sights along the way and make Daddy jealous that he wasn’t invited along.”

The Doctor reached up to press a hand against each of his hearts. “You mean- you mean that I’m not invited? Rose, that hurts. That really hurts.”

Andy giggled. “Daddy, I’ll invite you!”

The Doctor gave a solemn nod. “You are my hero. Truly.” He couldn’t keep the serious face, though, and quickly broke out a big grin. He reached out to take one of Andromeda’s hands. He leaned over to give Rose a kiss on the top of her head. “Looks like you’ve been trapped in a family adventure.”

“How awful for me,” Rose deadpanned. Then she took a step to the side to bump her shoulder against the Doctor’s before starting off down the corridor. With Rose leading the expedition, the TARDIS seemed to be willing to play along and show them all the rooms and sights that Rose wanted to show off. Perhaps the most surprising part was that there were several rooms that the Doctor had never seen before (though he knew that statistically in an infinite space it was inevitable that there would always be rooms that he’d never seen. Rose seemed familiar with all of them, though). 

By the time they did eventually reach the kitchen, Andromeda had already forgotten all about the spilled tea that had upset her in the first place. And when she laughed at the face the Doctor made when he made himself a cup of tea as well and then spit it out, the Doctor felt nothing but warmth filling him up. He and Rose had of course been a family for a very long time, but the newest addition to their family only made everything so much better, and he wasn’t sure he could even remember the last time he’d been so happy. And he loved that he could feel through his bond that Rose was just as happy as he was.   
,,,

Andy was just playing around in the console room, having a grand time of putting her dolls into the backs of plastic trucks and having them compete in a monster truck rally. Her dad had offered her other kinds of toys that he claimed were cooler and more advanced, but Andy preferred the ones her mum had given her. She liked knowing that she was playing with the same toys that her mum had as a child. 

As she was playing, the TARDIS suddenly made a weird noise, and Andy looked up in confusion. She was pretty much an expert on the ship by now, obviously, and she’d never heard that particular sound before. Was she supposed to call for her parents? Was there a problem?

“Oh- hello there. I suppose this means that I’m on the wrong ship, doesn’t it?” 

Andy got up and turned to look at the source of the voice. A pretty woman with very curly hair stood there, and she looked at Andy curiously. “Who are you?”

The woman raised one eyebrow. “I could ask you the same thing, though I suppose that that would be spoilers for myself. I’m River.”

Andy narrowed her eyes and gave the woman a long, searching look. It seemed like it would be a bit of a stretch to think that there could be two Rivers who both knew Andy’s parents, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “No you’re not.”

The woman blinked in obvious surprise, and then tilted her head to the side. “I am, actually. Look, I should just-”

“Andy! I finished the portrait of you and that Erials’z! You look so adorable in it.” Andy’s mum walked into the console room and headed straight for Andy. She didn’t stop until she noticed the look on Andy’s face, and then she turned to follow the direction of Andy’s gaze. Andy was confused when her mum’s face seemed to soften, and she walked over to the stranger. “Hello River. It’s lovely to see you.”

Was there really just two people named River who knew Andy’s mum and dad? It was technically possible, but it just seemed to be so outside the realm of possibility. The stranger- River- stayed where she was. “Rose, should I even ask why there’s a kid onboard?”

There was a long moment of silence between the two women, and then Rose shook her head. “No, I don’t think you should. Unless you have any interest in babysitting before you take off again?”

River snorted. “Me, taking care of a kid? Can you even imagine?”

Andy couldn’t help feeling somewhat annoyed that they were talking about her but weren’t talking to her. Like they’d just forgotten she was even there. She stomped one foot, even though her mum had told her that the TARDIS didn’t like when Andy did that. “I’m not a kid,” she insisted, even though she knew that it was blatantly untrue. But for all she knew, there were alien species that looked like human kids even when they were grown. “And my River likes taking care of me.”

River looked over at her, the curiosity in her eyes clearly bigger than it had been a minute ago. “Your River? And you said that I’m not River…” she trailed off as she turned to look at Andy’s mum again. “You’re right, I shouldn’t ask. I should probably just go, but,” she glanced back at Andy again. “I look forward to meeting you again someday, I’m sure.” She walked closer to Andy’s mum so that the two women could hug, and then she took a step back. “What’s the kid’s name, anyways?”

Andy’s mum laughed as she shook her head. “I can’t tell you that. You’re the one who- well. You’ll find out someday.” 

River rolled her eyes and then tapped at the device strapped to her arm. Now that Andy thought about it, that did look like the thing that her River used to travel around. But how could they be the same person when they looked like two entirely different people?

Once River was gone, Andy’s mum crouched down in front of her. “I still want to show you my painting, because I worked really hard on it. But after that, I think it might be time to have a bit of a chat with you about something known as regeneration.” She took one of Andy’s hands, and led her out of the console room, not even telling Andy to clean up her toys first. How strange.  
,,,

Andy peeked out shyly from behind her mum as they stood in the entrance to a house she’d never been in before. They were visiting another family, with a mum, a dad, and two kids. Rose put her arms around Andy’s shoulder, giving her a bit more confidence. “These are the Smiths, love. Very good friends of ours.” 

The woman of the other family gave Andy a friendly smile. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Martha, this is my husband Mickey, and our son CJ and our daughter Emilia.” Then Martha gave Rose an amused look. “You know, I should say that it’s not fair. You waited nearly a decade to come visit just to make sure our kids would be the same age?”

Rose laughed and shook her head. “We’ve had a lot going on. Besides, how can you complain? It’s only been a couple months since we last visited.” She glanced down at Andy. “CJ is nine, just like you. Would you be interested in spending time with him? I know you haven’t exactly had a normal childhood with peers of your own age. If you want to stick with me, though, that’s alright.”

Andy looked over at CJ. He didn’t look too scary, especially since she could tell even from here that she was taller than him. So she bravely stepped out of her mother’s loosely draped arm, and shuffled over to the boy. “I’m Andy. Well, Andromeda, but everyone except my dad calls me Andy.”

CJ frowned. “What does your da’ call you?”

“A pain in the butt,” she snorted. There was a pause, and then CJ laughed too, and Andy let out a sigh of relief. She glanced back over at her mum. “He’ll do.” Then she turned back to CJ. “Alright, show me your coolest toy.”

CJ grinned and grabbed her arm to tug her over to the stairs. “Come on, right this way.” 

As they went up, Andy heard her mum’s amusement as she said, “I’m glad that they seem to get along already. Two generations of epic friendship between a Smith and a Tyler.” Then they were out of earshot and in a very messy room. CJ didn’t really seem that bad, for a boy anyways.  
,,,

The first time Andy met the famous Jack Harkness (famous from years of stories that her parents had told her), her mum punched him in the face. Jack groaned, and reached up to rub at his cheek. “Oww. What the hell was that for, Rosie?”

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “Ask me again in a few years. Honestly, Jack, you should be ashamed.”

“I don’t even know what I’ve done,” he whined. “Or what I’m going to do, for that matter.” Then he and Rose shared a tight hug, and Andy was officially confused about how adult friendships were supposed to work.   
,,,

Andy wasn’t sure exactly why her parents wanted to take her to an empty house. It looked like no one had lived there in years. There was a thick layer of dust on all the furniture, and the house was full of personal belongings. It looked as though people had lived there, and then just vanished from their lives one day. It made Andy sad and scared at the same time, and she didn’t even really know why. 

Her parents didn’t say much, either, and they just drifted through the house like they were ghosts, and told her not to wander off the property. Andy didn’t get many chances to explore normal houses, so she decided to take advantage of the opportunity. 

She went into a bedroom on the first floor, and spotted something that looked slightly less dusty than everything else. Interest piqued, Andy walked over to get a better look at the envelope that was resting on one of the pillows. It said ‘Rose Tyler & the Doctor’ with different handwriting for the two names. 

Nobody had told her she wasn’t allowed to touch things in the house, though even she could figure out that reading a letter left for someone else would be a bad idea. She grabbed the envelope and shook it a few times to try and wipe off the dust that was on it. 

Then she left to track down her parents. It wasn’t a particularly large house, so she figured that it should be quick enough to find them. She found her dad first, in the living room. He was staring at a small couch, and Andy didn’t understand why it was important to him, but clearly it was. She cleared her throat, and he looked back at her. 

He held out one arm, and Andy hurried over to tuck herself up against him. “Found this,” she said in a quiet voice, somehow feeling like it would be wrong to shout in this place. It would be like shouting in a cemetery or a church. 

The Doctor looked surprised as he took the letter gingerly, like he was afraid that it was going to bite him. He stared at the names written on it for way longer than necessary to read just four words, and then he finally turned it over so that he could pull it open.

Inside was two pieces of paper and a black and white photograph. Andy only got a good look at the picture before the Doctor carefully shoved everything back into the envelope and clutching it to his chest, clearly not caring about the dust that got on his ‘gone to otterspace’ t-shirt, dust clinging right to the picture of the otter in an astronaut’s uniform.

The photograph showed a pretty man and woman with a child sitting in between them, and they were clearly dressed in clothes from the sixties (Even though she wasn’t yet allowed to go on any of the more dangerous adventures, Andy had made it her job to learn as much about different Earth time periods as she could). “Dad? Is everything okay? Who’s that from?”

He sighed, and seemed lost in thought for a few very long seconds. “My best friend. And your mum’s. Well, a different best friend for each of us, but they were married to each other for our convenience.”

Andy frowned and tried to think of any mention that had been made of her parents’ best friends, but she couldn’t recall if such a thing had ever come up before. “What happened to them?”

Her dad sighed again, and suddenly looked more tired than Andy had ever seen him. “They got trapped in the past.”

“So why don’t you just go and save them? We have a time machine, Dad.” 

The Doctor quickly shook his head, and knelt down in front of Andy to look her in the eyes. She wasn’t sure what she’d said wrong, but she could immediately see that the Doctor looked very, very serious. “I know that we’ve never really talked to you about this before, but there are a lot of rules to time travel.” He hesitated, and then stood back up. “Come on, let’s get back to the TARDIS. There’s still a lot for you to learn.”

Andy hesitated. “What about Mum?”

“She’ll catch up with us. She just needs another few minutes here. Come on.” He led Andy out of the house and back to their ship, and Andy wondered what rules could be so serious that they put that look on her dad’s face.  
,,,

Andy was very excited. It was her thirteenth birthday (at least according to her parents; one of the few downsides to growing up on the TARDIS was that Andy didn’t really have a good grasp on the concept of linear time). She’d been waiting for her thirteenth for a very long time, since it was when her parents had both agreed to take her on her first real adventure, to somewhere that wasn’t guaranteed to be safe. 

Not that Andy didn’t enjoy the many other trips she’d been taken on during her life, but after hearing so many stories from so many people, she wanted a chance to have the real kind of adventure. The kind that involved saving people and changing lives and running, so much running. She’d been practicing with the track the TARDIS provided, getting herself in shape for years so that she’d be ready. 

As she hurried to get dressed, she paused when she saw that all of her clothing had been replaced by the same boring pair of jeans and t-shirt over and over again. Andy narrowed her eyes and glanced up at the ceiling. “Look, today’s really important to me, so can’t we just agree to get along for once?” The TARDIS had never been too fond of Andy, though she hadn’t really noticed it until she’d gotten older. When she was still a little kid, the ship had still taken care enough to keep her alive and well, but these days all she ever got were petty pranks, like moving the kitchen when Andy was in the mood for a snack, or putting the swimming pool in Andy’s room, or turning the door to Andy’s room into nothing but a relief painting on the wall. 

Andy had complained about a few of those pranks to her parents, but they’d always looked so concerned that she’d just given up and stopped mentioning it, letting them think that she got along better with the ship now. Well, Andy got along perfectly fine with the TARDIS, it was the damn ship that seemed to have a problem with her.

But the TARDIS was not one to be easily swayed by begging, so Andy resigned herself to wearing what had been picked out for her. Maybe she could borrow one of her mum’s jackets (she knew that the TARDIS pretty much never did anything to mess with Rose. Even her dad got pranked or disobeyed by the ship at times). 

She conveniently passed by her parents’ room on the way to the console room, and hurried inside before the TARDIS could lock her out. Andy took just a moment to look around to see if it had changed much since the last time she’d been in. For some reason, she found it funny that despite outward appearances, her mum was the one who was a total slob with her stuff all over the place, and her dad was the one with everything neatly organized away.

Andy took a moment to dig through a pile of laundry on the ground until she found a cute blue leather jacket, and pulled it on over her t-shirt, zipping it up to cover the ratty thing. Andy ducked into the bathroom for a moment to look at herself in the full size mirror on the back of the door, and nodded in satisfaction. The jacket was clearly meant to be a bit on the smaller side, since it seemed to fit Andy pretty well.

With that problem taken care of, Andy returned to her mission of rushing to the console room. She was half-afraid that her parents would decide that she was late because she was afraid, and then they would decide to wait even longer before taking her out on a good adventure.

Her fears seemed to be unfounded, though, since her mum was the only one in the room when Andy got there. She hurried wrap both of her arms around one of her mum’s. “Where’s Dad? And where are we going to go for my first adventure?” She was practically bouncing up and down in her excitement.

Rose laughed, and leaned over to kiss the top of Andy’s head. “Wow, soon I won’t even have to do that. Have you shot up even more overnight?”

Andy looked back and forth between herself and her mum, and realized that while she was still the shorter of the two, she really was getting closer. Maybe someday she would be taller than her mum, which seemed like an oddly funny thought. “Maybe it’s all that growing juice I drank back on Jaxon VI,” she joked.

Rose laughed, and then pulled Andy in for a real hug. “Happy birthday, love. And don’t worry, we’re going to make sure that it’s one to remember. Your dad’s just finishing up with making breakfast. Can’t go out adventuring on an empty stomach now, can you?”

The Doctor arrived a couple of minutes later, balancing a tray with several full plates and glasses on it. “You know, it would be much easier if I didn’t have to carry all this halfway around the universe to get here,” he grumbled. “Why couldn’t we just eat in the kitchen like normal?”

Andy didn’t understand why Rose looked so amused when she said, “A kitchen in the console room? Imagine that.” 

The Doctor just rolled his eyes, and then all three of them settled down at the small table the TARDIS provided, and Andy practically inhaled her food, silently begging for her parents to hurry up as well. They seemed to understand her impatience, because they did stop eating while there was still food on their plates (they’d both assured Andy many times in the past that even though they did not need to eat much to live, she still needed to have full meals). 

Andy leapt up from her seat and rushed over to the console, though she knew better than to start touching anything on it. Her parents had tried to begin teaching her the process of driving on a few different occasions, but the TARDIS always made it very clear that she was not going to let Andy pilot her. Andy tried not to let that bother her too much.

Then her parents finally caught up, and started doing their dance around the console to sweep Andy away onto a real adventure, and Andy couldn’t wait to finally be a proper traveller of the TARDIS. 

When the ship finished materializing at their new destination, the Doctor suddenly remembered something that they ‘just had to’ bring with them. He ran off, and Andy rolled her eyes before turning to look at her mum. “Hey Mum, what’s Bad Wolf? Is it like a band or something?”

She didn’t expect for Rose to look down at her with such shock in her eyes. “Why are you asking me that?”

Andy reluctantly unzipped the borrowed jacket to reveal the t-shirt she’d been left with. “Found this in my closet. All my shirts look like this at the moment. Wasn’t sure if it was just some random thing or not.”

Rose took in a deep breath, and then slowly let it out. Usually when that followed one of Andy’s questions, it meant that she was in for some learning about something or other related to their crazy lives. But this time, Rose ended up just shaking her head. “I am Bad Wolf.” She didn’t say anything else on the matter, and Andy assumed it was just a strange nickname. Then the Doctor finally got back, waving around the sonic screwdriver that he’d made for Andy as a birthday present, then he and Rose each held one of Andy’s hands as they stepped out of the TARDIS and into the unknown.   
,,,

River laughed when Andy finished her request, and Andy fought not to let a childish pout show on her face. “I’m sorry, but what could you possibly need a vortex manipulator for? You’ve got an entire TARDIS right here.”

Andy bit her lip as she thought about the best way to explain the situation without oversharing. She knew that River was close with both Rose and the Doctor, but she wasn’t around them all the time the way that Andy was, which meant that she couldn’t fully understand the intricacies of their relationship.

But if it was the only way to get what she wanted, Andy decided that it would be okay to just tell the truth. “Mum and Dad are in a fight,” she finally admitted. “Apparently Mum has her own TARDIS that no one ever thought to mention to me, and she’s been going around in it for a few weeks, I think. She still pops back to visit me before I go to bed every night, but I don’t think she’s tried to see Dad at all.”

River frowned, and narrowed her eyes. “They’ve been together for thousands of years and not had any problems but- I suppose every couple has to have their fights. Still, though, if even they can’t make it, then what hope do the rest of us have?”

Andy crossed her arms over her chest. “They’re going to get back together,” she insisted, even though she was afraid that they never would. She’d never seen them so angry with each other. Then again, she’d never seen her dad like that at all. If she hadn’t already known about regeneration, and hadn’t watched it happen right before her eyes, she might not have believed it was really him. 

There was a pause, and then River reached out to ruffle Andy’s hair. “The Doctor is still on board though, right? I’m going to go talk to him.” She took off down one of the corridors, and after a moment’s hesitation, Andy followed. She still didn’t understand what the fight was about, and if River was going to get the chance to find out, then Andy deserved to know too. 

She was able to successfully tail River to the Doctor’s workshop, and then stayed just outside the door, which was left open. “River, what are you doing here?” There was an awkward moment of silence, and then the Doctor let out a sighed. “Ah, right, the face. Don’t worry, it’s still me. We’ve both been through this routine often enough.”

“Well, at least you don’t look like a punk anymore. Though I’m not sure that ‘divorced middle-aged hipster dad’ is much better.” Andy didn’t dare move over enough to peer into the room, though she knew exactly what River was talking about. The Doctor’s new style was very different than the one that Andy had gotten used to after seeing it her entire life. Gone were the pun filled t-shirts and ties and jeans. Now he wore button up shirts with plainly colored sweaters over them, tan trousers, and boat shoes. The worst part of his new style, though, were his glasses. Even Andy knew that they were straight up hipster glasses. 

The Doctor let out an annoyed huff. “I happen to look very good, actually. And why would you say that I look divorced? Why would you think that? Have you talked to Rose? Did she say something?” It was still difficult for Andy to get used to how much more intense he sounded now, closer to anger than mania. 

River sighed. “Andy said the two of you had a fight, and that she’s off on her own. What happened, Doctor?”

Andy held her breath, waiting to know the truth. Once she knew what had happened to cause the argument, she could figure out what to do to fix it. Of course she still loved her dad, even if he was different than he had been, and seemed to be a much sterner, less fun person. But it was still difficult getting used to his new self, and not having her mum around only made things worse. Andy just wanted them all to be a happy family again. 

She imagined the Doctor took his glasses off to rub at his eyes for a moment before he answered in a quiet, yet no less intense, voice. “I’d like to say that Rose overreacted, though at this point I’m not even sure which of us was in the right. I had a certain destination in mind, and Rose told me that I would die if I went there. I took us there anyways, because time is always in flux, and even if she can see glimpses of the future, that doesn’t mean that she knows everything. But she was right. Or at least more right than I was. I would have died if she hadn’t interfered, and instead I just got severely injured. We finished our business and got back to the TARDIS, and then I regenerated. Before I even really knew what had happened, we were arguing, and Rose said that I am too reckless, and that there are so many people who care about me and that I had no right to throw myself into trouble. I said that she was always too worried about the future and never took the time to just appreciate and live in the present. We both said a lot of things that I don’t think either of us meant, and then we both seemed to shut out our bond at the same time. She said she needed to cool off, and the next thing I know, she’s gone.”

Andy’s eyes widened more and more with each word her dad said. Her mum could see the future? How had she never known about that? And did it mean that Andy would be able to see the future too? She already knew that despite having a Time Lord dad, she did not have any Gallifreyan traits, but she’d never asked about what she might have inherited from her mum.

She also couldn’t help feeling somewhat resentful of the fact that her dad had known he was in danger but had gone anyways. She loved her dad, but she desperately missed the man that he used to be. The one that had raised her and taught her so many things. The one who was goofy and grinned so brightly whenever he was gifted a new pun t-shirt. Her new dad wasn’t like that at all. He was very serious, and Andy hadn’t seen him smile or laugh even a single time in the few weeks since he’d regenerated. He acted stiff and when he acted like he knew everything, it was no longer fun. And if he’d just listened to Rose, then he would still be the old Doctor that Andy knew and loved. 

Andy had no idea what River and the Doctor were doing, but she didn’t care. Andy hurried away, not wanting to listen to any more of that conversation. For once the TARDIS seemed willing to actually cooperate and let Andy get to her room in peace, though she suspected that that was at least partially because the ship felt depressed without Rose around. 

Andy sank down onto her bed, and stared at the wall like it was suddenly going to give her all the answers to the universe. But honestly, the universe had far too many questions for anyone to find all the answers, let alone to find the answers all in one place. 

After a few minutes, there was a knock at her door, and Andy called out that it was unlocked. It was too early for it to be Rose, so it was a toss-up as to whether it was the Doctor or River. Andy decided that it was probably River, because she doubted that her dad was even aware enough of anything outside his own problems to know that Andy was upset too. 

And she was right, as River opened the door and peeked inside the room. “I wanted to say goodbye to you before I left, but you weren’t where I left you.” She gave Andy a long look where she probably saw everything in Andy’s soul, since River seemed to have the power to do that to people. “I was just going to head out to visit your mum. Want to come with?”

“Dad-”

“Is already okay with it,” River interrupted smoothly. She held out one hand. “You coming or not?”

It wasn’t really a difficult decision at all. Andy had so many things she wanted to ask her mum- least of which included questions about how she could apparently see the future!- and she also wanted to be around a parent that was familiar and still acted like they loved her. Maybe it wasn’t fair to her dad to think about it like that, but how else was she supposed to see it? So she got up and walked over to the door to take River’s hand, and prepared herself for the unpleasantness of ‘travelling without a container’ as her dad always called it.   
,,,

“Dad! Come check this out! Have you ever seen glowing flowers like this?”

The Doctor strolled over from where he’d been investigating the dirt or something (though at least he didn’t eat it- Rose had told Andy some stories about the time that the Doctor had been a woman). The Doctor pushed his glasses further up his nose as he squatted down in front of the flowers Andy had found. “Hm. Bioluminescent adari turaaio. I have not seen flowers like this before.” He pulled a pair of scissors out of his pocket and snipped off one of the flowers, which he slid into a digital evidence bag he’d gotten from America in the 56th century at some point. 

He stared impassively at the bag as he waited for it to finish analyzing the contents, and Andy stared at her dad. It had been two years (probably) since he’d regenerated, and while she knew by now that he was clearly fascinated by the discovery, she still couldn’t help thinking wistfully of the way he used to get so outwardly excited by new things. He used to jump up and down and grin a lot and maybe he was childish at times, but he’d been fun to be around. 

Though Andy couldn’t even say for sure if it was because his newest self was just a very serious person, or if he had become a very serious person because he didn’t have Rose. But Andy quickly shied away from that line of thinking. She knew that her life was very different than that of most humans from any time or place, and admitting that her parents seemed on the verge of divorce seemed like far too normal of a thing for it to affect their family. 

Though it was hard to deny that there were problems when her parents hadn’t spoken to each other at all in the past two years, at least not that Andy knew of. They both travelled separately, and Andy ended up spending about an equal amount of time on both of the TARDIS’- though she’d been quite cross to realize that Rose’s TARDIS didn’t seem like Andy any more than the Doctor’s did. 

Andy was torn away from her thoughts when her dad let out a triumphant noise and he stuck the bag into his pocket. “Not a naturally occurring phenomenon. There is more of the Quertin toxins in the soil around here. Good find. Now we have the proof we need that the toxin has been here for at least long enough for these flowers to grow in it and be changed by it, which would take a few generations of flowers.”

He jammed his hands into his pockets as he turned away, and even though Andy was plenty old enough to walk around on her own (she was considered to be an adult by most human cultures, afterall), she couldn’t help somehow missing the offer of a hand to hold.   
,,,

“-so then we both jumped off the cliff, and I thought for sure we were going to wind up swimming in the toxic lake, but the TARDIS showed up in the middle of the air with the doors open so that we fell inside of her instead, and then we went back to the city hall and the look on Quertin’s face was so precious when he saw that we were still alive! Here, look, I took pictures to commemorate the moment!”

Rose laughed as she looked at the pictures Andy showed her. “Sounds like an exciting time.”

Andy grinned as she stuck her phone back into her pocket. “So where are you taking me?” 

There was a hesitant look on Rose’s face that seemed entirely out of place, and sometimes it was so easy to forget that in the end, Rose was still only human. It was especially easy to forget these days, when Andy looked about the same age as her mum, even if Rose was much, much older than Andy could truly wrap her mind around. “I was thinking that maybe if you’d like, I could take you to meet your grandmother. On my side, I mean.”

Andy knew surprisingly little about her mum’s family, or her life before the Doctor. She knew all about Gallifrey and her family on her alien father’s side, and had met quite a few of them over the years, but somehow her human mother had always remained the bigger mystery. “Yeah, I’d like that.” 

Rose looked relieved, and she gave Andy a hug and a kiss on the forehead before going over to the controls. The trip was a bit rockier than usual, the way it was whenever they travelled to alternate universes, and Andy only grew more intrigued about her mum’s family.

They landed next to what could only be described as a mansion, even though Andy was pretty sure that her mum did not have the accent of a rich person. The front door to the place flew open before Rose could even rich up to ring the bell, and an older looking woman stood there. She just stared for a few seconds before pulling Rose into a tight hug. “Oh, it’s so good to see you sweetheart.”

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too, Mum.” The hug lasted for ages before the two women finally separated, and then Rose put her arm around Andy’s shoulder to propel her forward. “This is Andromeda, my daughter. I told you that you were going to be a grandmother.” It was strange for Andy to hear her full name, since pretty much nobody ever used it unless she was in trouble. 

The woman laughed. “True, but I wasn’t expecting you to wait until I was actual grandmother-age to introduce us!” She pulled Andy into an unexpected hug, and then gave her a big kiss on the cheek. “Oh, you are beautiful! Come in, come in, I’ll put on the kettle.”

Andy let herself get ushered into the place by the old woman- whose name she still didn’t even know- and was led into a fancy looking kitchen. “So how have you been?” Rose asked in a way that indicated politeness between strangers more than anything. 

The old woman waved her hand through the air. “Oh, the same as ever. Pete’s been having lots of back issues lately, the poor dear, but we’re both doing alright. Oh and I do have other grandchildren. Tony got married to a lovely young man, and they’ve got three kids, probably around the same age as your Andromeda.”

“I go by Andy, actually,” she said as politely as she could.

Her grandmother grinned. “Can’t blame you for that. I’m sure I don’t even have to guess which of your parents gave you the name.” Then she glanced back at Rose. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how you and himself are doing, but you’re both well, last I heard.”

Andy furrowed her eyebrows. “What does that even mean?”

Rose gave Andy a small smile. “We’re in the past, love.” 

Andy just nodded like she understood, though to her, ‘the past’ was one of those concepts that she’d never really understood. They had a time machine and could go anywhere at anytime, so how could there ever be a time that had already happened? It made no sense to her, but clearly made sense to her mum and her grandmother, so she just accepted it and decided she might ask her dad for a better explanation at some point. 

The three of them drank tea and chatted for quite a while, and eventually Andy grew more comfortable. She talked about her own life, and also asked questions about Rose’s life. Despite how young her mum appeared to be on the outside, it was so strange to hear stories about when she’d been a child, because it was hard to imagine that Rose had ever been anything other than what she was.

Hours passed before Rose finally stood up, though she looked reluctant to do so. Her and her mother (whose name was Jackie Tyler) exchanged another long, tight hug, and then Jackie pulled away so that she could give Andy another hug as well. This time Andy felt more comfortable returning the gesture, and she thought that it wasn’t so bad to have a grandmother.  
,,,

Rose was sitting in her studio, trying to force herself to paint. It didn’t work very well, though, because she just felt like she had no real inspiration. She let out a heavy sigh and slumped down, the blank canvas practically taunting her. Even though the studio looked identical to the one she had on the Doctor’s TARDIS, it just didn’t feel the same. Of course this wasn’t the first time that Rose and the Doctor had separated, and wasn’t even the longest time. To people who lived for as long as they did, a few years apart was nothing. Or it should be nothing, anyways. Somehow that never seemed to actually hold up. 

Suddenly the alarms were going off, and Rose raced to the console room. As soon as she got there the alarms shut down, and the only thing left was the blinking light over the phone. But the TARDIS wouldn’t have rushed her to answer the phone if it wasn’t an emergency, and there were only two people in the universe who had the number to this phone, so Rose quickly snatched it up. “Hello? What’s going on?”

“Rose, it’s Andy. She’s been very badly injured.”

Rose could hear the urgency in the Doctor’s voice, and she nodded even though he wouldn’t be able to see it. “I’ll be right there.” She didn’t even take the time to warn her TARDIS that she was leaving, and between one blink and the next she was standing on the Doctor’s TARDIS again, in the medbay.

Andy was laid out on one of the beds, hooked up to multiple loudly beeping machines and looking very pale. The Doctor straightened up as soon as he spotted Rose in the room, and Rose tried not to vomit at the sight of so much blood staining a large patch of the Doctor’s sweater almost black. “Estreenian star pirates,” he said in answer to the question she hadn’t had time to ask yet.

Rose nodded, and then walked right up to the bed to look down at her baby. It had been hard enough to accept that she’d given birth to a human child who would live and die with the lifespan of an ordinary 21st century human, but there was no way that Rose could accept losing Andy even sooner than that. It struck Rose, then, that Andy was the same age that Rose had been when she’d first taken off to travel with the Doctor. Still so very young, and yet old enough to risk her life and save entire planets and fall in love. And definitely far too young to actually die.

Rose closed her eyes and focused on the power within her. She found that she had to really fight it, because for some reason Bad Wolf was reluctant to save Andy, but Rose refused to let her daughter die when she still had any say left in the matter. 

Slowly but surely, a bright golden light seeped out of Rose and settled over Andy, turning Andy’s body back to the time before it had been injured, restoring everything that had been lost and damaged. When she was done, Rose felt emotionally drained, and she stared across the bed at her husband, who still had the bloody sweater on.

Without any words, they both seemed to agree to unblock their ends of the bond at the same time, and as all the emotions rushed between them, they hurried forward into each other’s arms. They held each other up, just as they always had. “I’ve missed you so much,” Rose whispered. 

“I’ve missed you too,” the Doctor responded. They just stood there and held each other like that for a while as they waited for Andy to wake up. They were a family, and they were supposed to be together. And now they were. 

When Andy did wake up, she looked shocked to see both of her parents in the same room, and then all three of them were hugging and crying, and Rose promised that she wasn’t going to leave again- though she silently told the Doctor that she meant ‘at least not within Andy’s lifetime’ and he understood. Even the two of them, known by so many as a perfect couple, could not spend every minute of their very long lives together. 

Andy felt fine, so they relocated to the library, after the Doctor and Andy had both showered and changed into clean clothes. They met Rose there, and the three of them all huddled together as Andy proudly told Rose about what had happened, and how she’d saved someone’s life. Rose’s chastisement was only half-hearted, and she knew she’d be a hypocrite if she really meant it, considering that she’d been the same age as Andy when she’d risked her life to save the Doctor’s. 

The Doctor eventually made a joke to lighten the mood, and Andy looked even more shocked. “I didn’t know he had a sense of humor,” she told them in all seriousness. 

They all laughed, and stayed together, and even after the other two fell asleep, exhausted by the roller coaster of a day, Rose stayed awake and watched over them. She couldn’t imagine ever having a better family.


End file.
